Pakistan: Retired Army Officers Awarded 14-year Jail & Death Sentences for Espionage

By IndraStra Global News Team

By IndraStra Global News Team

On May 30, 2019, Pakistani military courts have sentenced a three-star retired Pakistan Army General to 14 years "vigorous imprisonment" and a retired Brigadier to a death sentence, “on the charges of espionage/ leakage of sensitive information to foreign agencies prejudice to the national security”, a statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Armed Forces. A civilian doctor associated with a sensitive organization has also been handed capital punishment on similar charges, according to a brief statement issued by the ISPR.

Pakistan Army's Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa endorsed the punishment to the officers on the charges of espionage/leakage of sensitive information to foreign agencies prejudice to national security, the statement said. Director General (DG) ISPR Major General Asif Ghafoor has said that an effective and strict accountability process exists in armed forces which is evident from sentences awarded by COAS.

The officers — identified by the ISPR as Lieutenant General (retd.) Javed Iqbal, Brigadier (retd.) Raja Rizwan, and Dr.Wasim Akram — were tried under the Pakistan Army Act (PAA) and Official Secret Act by separate Field General Court Martial (FGCM) for separate cases, said the statement issued by the ISPR.

The ISPR did not disclose the exact nature of espionage the officers were involved in. However, Major General Ghafoor had confirmed the arrests of the senior officers in a press conference on February 22, 2019. "Both of these are the individual case and are not linked to each other, and there is no network as such. Keep in mind that, if we have been able to get them and identify the issue, it is a success," he had said at that time.